Jeff—Saturday
Today is a day I sense for feeling joyful. No, not because
I’m packing up to depart Mykonos mid-week for New Orleans to participate in
Bouchercon 2016’s Blood on the Bayou; no, not because I’m halfway finished with
Kaldis #9—due out in 2017; no, not because Kaldis #8 (Santorini Caesars) comes out September 6th and is
getting terrific reviews (“International-crime
fans need to be reading this consistently strong series.” —Booklist); and, no, not even because I’m so deeply honored to be
part of the just released, game changing SUNSHINE
NOIR anthology edited by our own Annamaria Alfieri and Michael Stanley.)
What has me up in the
clouds is that finally I met someone involved with addressing the Greek
financial crisis that actually gets it. Whether or not the politicians with the
power to bring about change listen to my source, understand what’s said, and
act on it is another story.
This is not a slam on
Greece, because my luncheon companion’s analysis of how Greece got into the
situation it now finds itself applies in equal measure to the UK ending up in Brexit
mode, and the US facing November 8th.
So here, folks, is a
four-step analysis from a hands-on practical straight-talker…as related by me
from my perch of joy.
1.
The
economies involved have edged forward extremely slowly from the crises that
struck them nearly a decade ago. That alone is enough to cause unease in an electorate.
2.
True or
not, the perception in those nations is that the one-percent at the economic top
is doing terrifically at the expense of the other ninety-nine. That sort of thinking contributed to the
French National holiday of Bastille Day.
3.
Voters
believe their elected officials are indebted to special interests, cannot work
together, and have lost touch with what the people expect of them. Another nail in the social compact coffin.
4.
Pensioners
are facing a declining standard of living, either because of cuts to their
pensions or increased costs for their necessities, and beyond that they see
their children and grandchildren falling farther and further into financial
disparity and despair.
A confluence of all four
negatives—running from macro to family dinner table economics— can spawn
revolution in many cultures, but Greece, the UK, and the US are not the sort to
take to the streets. Rather, their first
resort is to the ballot box. So, if you’re a voter holding the short end of the
stick on these four points, what are you going to do about it when your
government asks for your vote?
I shall put the answer
in my own words...as translated from the original sophisticated style of my
luncheon companion.
ANSWER: Shove that
stick as far up the [you know where] of the system as you can get it, or—to put
more delicately (for Caro’s gentle ears)—vote for the craziest wildcard alternative
out there promising to shake up a system that no longer has any meaning for you.
After all, what more do
the disenchanted and ignored feel they have to lose?
Obviously a lot, but that’s
not how the voter sees it, and if politicians persist in missing or dismissing
what’s driving their citizenry to the edge, all I can say to the world is, BEND
OVER.
As for that joy I alluded to earlier on, somehow it’s
managed to morph into the sort of uneasy high one gets leaning out over the
edge of a very tall skyscraper. Or
tower.
—Jeff
